Chapter Summaries

Li Banfeng became deputy director of the Dark Star Bureau and discovered that cameras in his residence could be controlled by his projector. After responding to a dark-energy anomaly in Garden Community, he rescued Tangyuan, Light Bulb, and Star from attacking sleeping mats.

• Li Banfeng challenged Shen Jingye during a meeting and requested the deputy director position, which Shen Jingye arranged for him the next day.
• He Jiaqing learned from Big Head about Li Qi, the Mystic Life Crimson Lotus, and other upheavals in Pro State, then insisted that Li Qi was important to him.
• Li Banfeng found cameras throughout his residence and used the projector to turn them into obedient allies.
• Li Banfeng and the phonograph drove to Garden Community after Brick reported a dark-energy anomaly trapping residents in a building.
• The sleeping mats attacked Tangyuan, Light Bulb, and the injured Star, and Li Banfeng struck them away from atop the stairwell canopy.

Li Banfeng helped the Dark Star Bureau capture a Spirit Caller whose uncontrolled Ghost Servant had killed a resident, then learned the bureau’s agents were struggling to handle the threat. After asking Tangyuan how to reach the Black Market, he went there to investigate the trade in Ghost Servants and recognized a familiar young woman among the souls for sale.

• Li Banfeng watched the agents struggle against the mat and other Ghost Servants, then captured the Spirit Caller and subdued the remaining spirits with his Blood-Containing Pendulum.
• Chuunibyou deduced that the Spirit Caller had lost control of a powerful Ghost Servant by forcing it to cross cultivation levels, and Chen Changrui arrived to take charge of the scene.
• Li Banfeng asked Light Bulb for the suspect’s statement and questioned Tangyuan about the Black Market; Tangyuan admitted her doubts about her abilities before giving him the market’s directions.
• Li Banfeng entered a cinema in Culture Palace, used Tangyuan’s code phrases to obtain the location of a Black Market dealer, and visited private room 205.
• The dealer showed Li Banfeng a seventh-layer soul in a dark green dress holding locust leaves, and he recognized her as someone he had seen before.

Li Banfeng bought Feng Yuqiu, a seventh-layer Cold Cultivator Ghost Servant, and learned that she was searching for Qin Tianjiu, who had disappeared. Luo ZhengNan revealed a passage through New Land connecting the Outer State to Iron Gate Fort, leaving Li Banfeng wondering who controlled the territory’s Local Earth God.

• Li Banfeng bought Feng Yuqiu from Yin Siniang and learned that Feng Yuqiu was trying to communicate about Qin Xiaopang.
• Li Banfeng learned that Cold Cultivators grew stronger through emotional distance, and he set rules for Feng Yuqiu to follow while he was away.
• Li Banfeng investigated the Dark Star Bureau’s records, discovered that its profession files were incomplete, and secured access to classified documents from Shen Jingye.
• Luo ZhengNan reported that Yin Siniang had no known connection to Zuo Wugang and that Qin Tianjiu had vanished from Three Heroes Gate half a month earlier.
• Luo ZhengNan gave Li Banfeng a map of Ye Song Bridge’s Wind-Sand Lands and led him through Flower Lake Park into New Land, which connected the Outer State to Iron Gate Fort.
• Li Banfeng asked whether the Local Earth God in the Outer State’s New Land had been born there or invested by the Inner State.

Li Banfeng investigated how several Ghost Servants had reached the Outer State and learned that Yin Siniang had bought them from a group called the Ferry Gang. He prepared to investigate the gang’s leader, the Boat Boss, just as the Dark Star Bureau summoned him to an important meeting.

• Li Banfeng killed a powerful Horse Head Maggot near Flower Lake Park and heard unexplained crying that Luo ZhengNan thought came from a gatekeeping mechanism.
• At the Black Market, Li Banfeng recognized the Ghost Servants Xu Qiulan, Shan Zhumei, and an Actor Cultivator, bought them, and questioned them about how they had died and been collected.
• The three Ghost Servants described masked people questioning them about Li Banfeng, while the Actor Cultivator said a Demonic Cultivator had captured him near Decency Village.
• Li Banfeng followed Yin Siniang in her truck, exposed her false claim that she had personally visited Pro State, and learned that the Ghost Servants had come from the Ferry Gang and its leader, the Boat Boss.
• Yin Siniang agreed to alert Li Banfeng when she next met the Boat Boss, and Li Banfeng took the Ghost Servants from her truck.
• The projector told Li Banfeng that Shen Jingye had sent word of an important Dark Star Bureau meeting that morning.

Li Banfeng led the Public Security Team against a flesh ball that released deadly red worms, using the team’s cultivators and Old Teapot to contain and destroy them. He learned the creature was a Gu Cultivator’s Insect Pouch, then began training in a Cloud Above Skill and discovered Hong Ying could evade his attacks by shifting where her body parts were.

• Shen Jingye brought Li Banfeng and the Public Security Team to Ruirong Textile Factory, where an explosion failed to destroy the flesh ball and red worms began infecting the demolition team.
• Li Banfeng ordered He Bensheng and two Travel Cultivators to contain the worms, then led Tangyuan and the Scholars in using Ink Counting and Line Following to hem them in.
• After Tangyuan exhausted herself with five rounds of the technique, Li Banfeng trapped the worms and flesh ball inside Old Teapot’s barrier, where tea broth killed the worms.
• Li Banfeng arranged for the team to remove the explosives, burn and freeze the flesh ball, then learned from Wife that the worms were Gu Seeds and the flesh ball was a Gu Cultivator’s Insect Pouch.
• Hong Ying urged Li Banfeng to learn the Travel Cultivator Cloud Above Skill Carefree and Unrestrained, then demonstrated that he could not hit her because she could shift where her body parts were.

Li Banfeng uncovered clues that the Ruirong Textile Factory had behaved like Pro State and forced Dark Star Bureau Director Shen Jingye to accept responsibility for the failed operation and grant the Public Security Team Harmonizing Agent. After studying how the Unnameable affected New Land entrances, Li Banfeng learned that Qin Tianjiu had been found alive but might not survive much longer.

• The phonograph explained the Unnameable and Hong Ying's Carefree and Unrestrained technique, while Hong Ying described how she had split her real body to kill three Cloud Above Arrow Cultivators.
• Li Banfeng realized the textile factory's weak signal and failed explosives resembled conditions in Pro State, then attended Shen Jingye's meeting about the operation.
• Li Banfeng challenged Shen Jingye over blaming the dead demolition team and withholding rewards, using the projector to trap the directors in the conference room until they agreed the Demolition Team bore no responsibility and the Public Security Team would receive Harmonizing Agent.
• Li Banfeng examined the Public Security Team's reward distribution and told Chen Changrui to fight for more on the team's behalf.
• Luo ZhengNan showed Li Banfeng how to use the electrical test pen key to enter the New Land and explained that its boundary shifted constantly, which Li Banfeng connected to the Unnameable.
• Luo ZhengNan received word from Fifth Master that Qin Tianjiu had been found alive, though his survival was uncertain.

Li Banfeng rescued Qin Tianjiu and learned that An Zongding had abducted the ghost girl Qin loved, then returned to Outer State to confront the Ferry Gang. After a battle left Boat Boss’s fate uncertain, Li Banfeng recognized the bamboo-hatted Sound Cultivator’s tune and suspected he knew the man’s identity.

• Li Banfeng used wine from the Wine Gourd to stabilize Qin Tianjiu, then learned Qin had been attacked while searching Sea Eat Ridge for An Zongding, who had taken the ghost girl he loved.
• Li Banfeng told Ma Wu that he had found the girl in Outer State and warned him to investigate Shen Jinzhong and the Ferry Gang; he sent Luo ZhengNan to deliver the girl to Qin Tianjiu and look into An Zongding.
• Li Banfeng met Yin Siniang at the Culture Palace and hid while Boat Boss’s men delivered eight departed souls and collected payment.
• Li Banfeng attacked Boat Boss’s SUV on the highway, killing two men before the car exploded, then confronted a bamboo-hatted Sound Cultivator and pursued him alongside a man in black.
• The two opponents weakened Li Banfeng with a technique that caused extreme hunger, forcing him to retreat to his Portable Abode, where he realized the bamboo-hatted man’s song could counter Ride a Horse and Admire Flowers.

Li Banfeng investigated the shifting Ruirong Textile Factory after Chen Changrui’s centipede-clearing mission went disastrously wrong. Tangyuan became trapped in a hidden yard and was attacked by centipedes and a crawling workshop, but Li Banfeng rescued her and confronted the strange creature.

• The phonograph identified Chu Zikai’s song as a Sound Cultivation Technique and explained several techniques Li Banfeng should guard against when facing him.
• Tangyuan told Li Banfeng that Chen Changrui had mislocated centipedes at the textile factory, leading to two Public Security Team members being bitten and poisoned.
• Li Banfeng questioned Tangyuan about the incident and arranged to investigate Ruirong Textile Factory with her that night.
• Li Banfeng and Tangyuan found that measurements inside the factory changed over time, and Li Banfeng suspected the Unnameable was affecting the site.
• After Li Banfeng sensed danger and sent Tangyuan toward the exit, she became trapped in a hidden yard surrounded by centipedes and a workshop that crawled after her.
• Li Banfeng broke through the wall, pulled Tangyuan back to safety, and asked the crawling workshop whether it came from the Inner State.

Li Banfeng defeated the Centipede Workshop and captured its soul, but an alarm disrupted his fight with Chu Zikai and sent them flying apart. After returning to the bureau, Li Banfeng questioned Tangyuan about who had summoned the Public Security Team, and she insisted she had not done it.

• Li Banfeng entered the Centipede Workshop, damaged its Main Steam Pipeline, and weakened its boiler until the workshop was near death.
• Chu Zikai arrived and used his songs to revive the workshop, but Li Banfeng used a record player to disrupt Chu Zikai's technique and destroy the workshop's restored boiler.
• Chu Zikai tried to summon the workshop's departing soul, but Li Banfeng wounded it with the Horse Whip and bound it.
• A Public Security Team alarm disrupted the battle, and Li Banfeng fled with the workshop's soul to the Portable Abode.
• The Dark Star Bureau searched for Li Banfeng, while Tangyuan mourned his disappearance until he called her to his office.
• Li Banfeng asked Tangyuan whether she had summoned reinforcements, and she denied it, even drinking the water he had laced with laxatives to prove her honesty.

Li Banfeng challenged the Dark Star Bureau’s handling of the Ruirong Textile Factory incident, forced several directors to write self-criticisms, and defended Qin Minghui from dismissal by demanding a higher-level examination. Qin Minghui admitted he had used Harmonizing Agent, while He Jiaqing, afflicted by Green Flower’s methods, asked Zhang Gunli to lend him life.

• Shen Jingye discovered Li Banfeng had returned and joined Directors Liu, Zhang, and Wang in explaining the bureau’s response to suspicious intruders at Ruirong Textile Factory.
• Li Banfeng faulted Shen Jingye for failing to assign him duties and made Shen Jingye and the other directors write self-criticisms amid crawling centipedes.
• Li Banfeng summoned Qin Minghui, asked why he had used Harmonizing Agent, and listened as Qin Minghui explained what he considered important enough to protect.
• At the meeting, Li Banfeng challenged Chen Changrui’s reassignment and Qin Minghui’s proposed dismissal, then called for a thorough investigation of the Black Market and a higher-level examination of Qin Minghui.
• Qin Minghui privately admitted to Li Banfeng that he had consumed Harmonizing Agent more than once, while He Jiaqing and Big Head discussed his illness and the search for Disease Cultivators.
• He Jiaqing told Zhang Gunli that Green Flower’s methods might soon kill him and asked to borrow some of Zhang Gunli’s life.

Li Banfeng stopped the Dark Star Bureau from accusing Chuunibyou of illegally taking Harmonizing Agent, then assigned him investigations into Snowflake Port and Chu Zikai. Meanwhile, Big Head disguised himself as Shen Jingye to enter a restricted archive and find information about Kang Zhenchang, a possible hope for saving He Jiaqing.

• Ma Wu learned from Shen Jinzhong that An Zongding was a founder of Three Heroes Gate and managed Snowflake Port, whose people made Pro State's silver coins, and he warned Li Banfeng not to investigate further.
• Li Banfeng used a misleading laboratory report to convince Chuunibyou that he had never taken genuine Harmonizing Agent, leaving him confident during the Dark Energy test.
• Li Banfeng and Shen Jingye signed a contract over the test's outcome, and the instrument found that Chuunibyou had not violated regulations; Shen Jingye agreed to honor the wager and provide Harmonizing Agent.
• Li Banfeng gave Chuunibyou files on the Ruirong Textile Factory case, Chu Zikai, and Snowflake Port to investigate.
• Big Head used a facial mask to impersonate Shen Jingye, entered a restricted data room, and found Kang Zhenchang's file as a possible lead to saving He Jiaqing.
• The next morning, Li Banfeng noticed a pungent scent on Big Head, and the gloves in his pocket recognized it as familiar.

Big Head delivered Kang Zhenchang’s address and hidden equipment to He Jiaqing, but Li Banfeng followed him and discovered human aura stored in the equipment. As Li investigated Ruirong Textile Factory and the Dark Star Bureau, He Jiaqing found his popularity-stealing items had been tampered with and was attacked by a Boundary outside the cave.

• Big Head passed Kang Zhenchang’s address to Zhu Junlong, left He Jiaqing’s tea boxes in his cave, and entered the new land through the crying woman’s marker.
• Li Banfeng followed Big Head into the cave and found equipment containing exceptionally pure human aura, then learned of Xiao Zhengong and Dabo Ensi’s search for clues and medicine.
• Chuunibyou reconstructed the Ruirong Textile Factory battle and linked its disappearances and monster sightings to two possible Stealth Space entrances.
• Dabo Ensi told Xiao Zhengong that an Inner State fish skeleton had wounded him, while Li Banfeng learned that cameras in the stairwell required special grease before they would let him pass.
• He Jiaqing found that several items in the cave had been emptied of popularity, and Li Banfeng arrived just as He Jiaqing rushed toward the cave entrance.
• A Boundary appeared beneath He Jiaqing’s feet and stripped the skin from his right foot up to his knee as he wondered whether the Local Earth God was outside.

Li Banfeng discovered He Jiaqing’s hidden cave and learned that Xiao Zhengong had sought documents about the boundary. He copied the boundary research from the Dark Star Bureau, while He Jiaqing fled to Duan Shuqun for shelter from the Green Water Bow.

• Li Banfeng used Close Doors and Windows to trap He Jiaqing at the cave entrance, but He Jiaqing admitted defeat and promised a gift before Li Banfeng left.
• Li Banfeng realized that He Jiaqing had been collecting popularity with Big Head’s help, while He Jiaqing delayed visiting Kang Zhenchang with Zhu Junlong.
• Dabo Ensi used his spider-like ability to make Xiao Zhengong reveal that he was Yu Dacheng of Iron Sheep Mountain and that Lu Xiaolan was now his First Boss, then pressed him for the boundary secret.
• Li Banfeng entered the Dark Star Bureau data room and found the Boundary files; he and the Portable Abode household copied the documents after the projector failed to photograph them.
• Li Banfeng studied the boundary research with Wife and the Portable Abode, which agreed to help build a device and requested a list of materials.
• Duan Shuqun found He Jiaqing bloodied in his office, and He Jiaqing warned him that the Green Water Bow was close and asked him to hide him.

He Jiaqing escaped Green Water Bow with Tang Shijiang’s help, then contacted Zhu Junlong to seek treatment for his worsening lesions. Meanwhile, Li Banfeng and Dabo Ensi tested Magnetic Vibration Cannons: Li’s test illuminated a halo, while Dabo’s trapped Xiao Zhengong inside a blazing boundary until Liao Zihui arrived to question him.

• He Jiaqing and Duan Shuqun hid in the Tuberose Newspaper Office, but Green Water Bow found them and attacked with pus moths.
• Tang Shijiang burned the moths with a magical fishing net, drove Green Water Bow away, and ordered He Jiaqing to leave while Duan Shuqun stayed in a concrete pipe until noon.
• He Jiaqing’s lesions spread to his internal organs, so he contacted Zhu Junlong and told him to have Han Mingqi approach Kang Zhenchang cautiously for a treatment method.
• Li Banfeng investigated Chu Zikai’s debt crisis and prepared to test the Magnetic Vibration Cannon, while Dabo Ensi and Xiao Zhengong built another cannon using phonograph solar panels.
• Li Banfeng fired his cannon at a halo in Bei Wushuang’s territory, making it blaze brightly; he suspected the device could illuminate boundary lines.
• Xiao Zhengong’s test near Ma Bamboo Village enclosed him and the cannon within a blazing boundary, and after constables surrounded him, Liao Zihui arrived and questioned him.

Li Banfeng traced the Dark Star Bureau’s trap for Han Mingqi to a wider investigation of He Jiaqing’s network, while Shen Jingye questioned Big Head and Liao Zihui learned of possible routes to the Inner State. The chapter ended with a field snail discovering the damaged crucian carp skeleton and summoning her kin to seek vengeance.

• Chuunibyou told Li Banfeng that Han Mingqi had been caught after wandering into a villa trap, and Shen Jingye’s interrogation revealed that Han had gone there to find Kang Zhenchang for He Jiaqing.
• Shen Jingye traced Han’s lead to Tea Mountain Hotel and ordered Zhu Junlong’s arrest, but Zhu Junlong and several key employees had already fled; Big Head’s wife was detained while Li Banfeng arranged care for Big Head’s child.
• Shen Jingye interrogated Big Head, who admitted knowing Zhu Junlong and He Jiaqing but denied any dealings with He outside work.
• Shen Jingye told Li Banfeng that Xiao Zhengong had been captured in Pro State, and Xiao Zhengong told Liao Zihui about an Inner State entrance at Soda Kiln and Chen Weixin’s connection to Spider Bin and Zhao Xiaowan.
• Wei Yingsen spent the night writing a report on the leads, while Liao Zihui and Tang Huanjie went to Carefree Dock.
• Shi Gongxing hid in a workshop as a field snail emerged, found the crucian carp skeleton, and sent a signal summoning her kin to avenge it.

Li Banfeng studied the Magnetic Vibration Cannon and considered seeking Teacher Song’s help, while Special Project Team Envoy Xu Shouming took over the cases involving Spider Bin, the Inner State entrance, and Zhao Xiaowan. After Xu secured Zhao Xiaowan’s spear and a map to the entrance, his deputy Hou Haitao’s expedition to the abandoned factory vanished, leaving Xu to ask Liao Zihui for help.

• Li Banfeng concluded that the Magnetic Vibration Cannon could alter boundary lines and House Cultivator halos, then thought Teacher Song might connect him with a dark matter expert.
• Xu Shouming arrived in Pro State, established a separate base at Jiang Xiang Garden, and offered freight-charge reductions to anyone who found a lead on Spider Bin.
• Bai Wuchuan reported Spider Bin’s presence at Ye Song Bridge, and Xu sealed the area before Spider Bin left Zhao Xiaowan’s spear at Guanfang Hall and sent an anonymous map to the Inner State entrance.
• Xu Shouming arranged to transfer Zhao Xiaowan’s spear through Liao Zihui, restored traffic at Ye Song Bridge, and headed to Soda Kiln after receiving the map.
• Green Water Bow told Cui Tike that He Jiaqing had entered the Tuberose Newspaper Office at Black Stone Slope and ordered him to identify Night Boss.
• Hou Haitao’s team encountered the crucian carp skeleton and Snail Girl at the abandoned factory; the group never returned, and Xu showed Liao Zihui photographs of their remains and asked for help.

Li Banfeng sought dark matter research from Teacher Song and resisted the Dark Star Bureau’s vague order to go to Soda Kiln while Ma Wu investigated the incident there. Meanwhile, He Jiaqing tried to recruit Cui Tike, Green Water Bow entered the Outer State and attacked people who confronted him, and Feng Daiku offered to accompany Ma Wu to the Abandoned Factory.

• Sun Tiecheng ordered Ye Jianhuang to warn the Local Earth Gods not to meddle in others’ affairs after Gui Jianchou punished him.
• Li Banfeng visited Teacher Song at Yue Province University, learned about her dark matter research, and left without revealing his identity.
• Shen Jingye urged Li Banfeng to travel to Soda Kiln, but Li Banfeng refused until the Dark Star Bureau investigated the situation; Ma Wu went to Soda Kiln instead.
• Green Water Bow suspected Cui Tike of secretly helping Li Qi, followed He Jiaqing to Yuezhou, and entered the Outer State, where he killed men who shoved or threatened him.
• He Jiaqing asked Cui Tike to cooperate against Green Water Bow, but Cui Tike refused; He Jiaqing then headed toward Yue Province University to seek Li Banfeng’s help.
• Yan Song’an told Ma Wu where the Abandoned Factory was, and Feng Daiku arrived that night and agreed to accompany Ma Wu there.

Feng Daiku and Ma Wu battled Snail Girl while Kang Zhenchang confirmed that Green Water Bow had caused a deadly epidemic in Yuezhou. As Pro State agreed to send Li Qi to negotiate with Green Water Bow, Li Banfeng instead encountered him on Suichen Road and began a brutal fight.

• Feng Daiku and Ma Wu fought Snail Girl at the factory, bursting her feelers but failing to end the battle.
• Teacher Song confronted He Jiaqing over the harm he had caused Li Banfeng, gave him Li Banfeng's number, and ended their teacher-student relationship.
• Kang Zhenchang identified Green Water Bow as the source of Yuezhou's epidemic and reported that the first-generation cases were nearly impossible to cure.
• Pro State's leaders agreed to meet Green Water Bow's demands and assigned Li Qi to handle the matter, while Director Du received instructions to carry out the decision.
• Li Banfeng went to Suichen Road expecting to find Bagworm Moth Madam, but Green Water Bow appeared and attacked him; Li Banfeng's strikes badly wounded Green Water Bow before the Tang Blade stabbed him from behind.

Li Banfeng fought Green Water Bow through a prolonged battle, using his companions and Portable Abode to survive Green Water Bow’s disease techniques and Dark Dimension Space. With He Jiaqing’s help and a borrowed technique from Hong Ying, Li Banfeng finally sent Green Water Bow flying away, then mourned He Jiaqing.

• Li Banfeng burned Green Water Bow’s scattered flesh, but Green Water Bow entered Dark Dimension Space and struck him with his ragged garment.
• Li Banfeng used Blood Tooth Mountain and repeated attacks to wear Green Water Bow down, while Green Water Bow infected him and forced him to retreat.
• He Jiaqing stole Green Water Bow’s Beggar Bowl and hair, while Cui Tike removed Li Banfeng’s disease foci and attacked Green Water Bow with a sight-borne illness.
• Green Water Bow trapped Li Banfeng in Dark Dimension Space, but the Portable Abode appeared as a train and carried them both back outside.
• Cui Tike tried to kill Green Water Bow with a soundwave disease, but Green Water Bow recovered and beat him down; Li Banfeng then took the Beggar Bowl.
• He Jiaqing helped Li Banfeng regain his direction, and Li Banfeng used Hong Ying’s borrowed A Farewell of Ten Thousand Miles Technique to send Green Water Bow flying before closing He Jiaqing’s eyes.

Li Banfeng recovered from his fight with Green Water Bow, then investigated the brewing conflict between Inner State and Outer State and warned Luo Lijun not to let the war spill into Pro State. The chapter left him facing Feng Daiku’s request to become Soda Kiln’s Local Earth God, while Green Water Bow continued battling DaoLao Ghosts at Knife Ghost Ridge.

• Cui Tike treated Li Banfeng’s lingering illness, and Li Banfeng agreed to take him to Knife Ghost Ridge; Cui Tike also treated the badly wounded He Jiaqing.
• Glove admitted taking Green Flower’s Beggar Bowl, and the Portable Abode identified it as a key capable of opening the Land of the Unnameable anywhere.
• Li Banfeng learned from Ma Wu that Inner State people had killed more than fifty Outer State people after Xu Shouming’s forces attacked an entrance guard, and Ma Wu said he was negotiating with Luo Lijun.
• Li Banfeng struck Cui Tike with the Feather Duster and sent him to Knife Ghost Ridge, where Cui Tike found Green Water Bow fighting the DaoLao Ghosts led by Wan Puxian.
• Teacher Song examined Li Banfeng and gave him her Dark Energy research notes, while warning him that a Balance Person faced danger.
• At Soda Kiln, Li Banfeng examined the dead-but-souled crucian carp, warned Luo Lijun against fighting in Pro State, and heard Feng Daiku ask to become Soda Kiln’s Local Earth God.