Chapter Summaries

Li Banfeng and his companions traveled through the swamp toward Flower Immortal Manor while He Jiaqing and Chu Yaoqian fought to escape Hua Manchun and his allies. The groups converged at the manor, where Li Banfeng killed Hua Manchun with a surprise attack.

• Li Banfeng, Ma Wu, and Feng Daiku rode Mei through the swamp, and Li Banfeng resolved to return there to cultivate.
• Sun Peiying trapped He Jiaqing while Hua Manchun burned him and Ren Antian disrupted Chu Yaoqian’s Dance Steps.
• He Jiaqing received a gourd of paste from his Ancestor, then used it with Chu Yaoqian to trap Ren Antian and wound Hua Manchun before they escaped.
• Hua Manchun pursued He Jiaqing and Chu Yaoqian toward Fallen Flower Valley, then broke off to return to Flower Immortal Manor while Sun Peiying and Ren Antian stopped pursuing.
• Feng Daiku and Ma Wu stalled Hua Manchun outside the manor with the Water Falling Gate and their techniques, while Li Banfeng stabbed and crushed him.

Li Banfeng defeated Hua Manchun and uncovered how Flower Immortal Manor supplied Snowflake Port with Entry Medicine Powder: Hua Manchun used the remains of dead cultivators. After questioning him about his ties to Outer State, Li Banfeng learned that its people were supposedly fabricated, and Hua Manchun began to explode.

• Li Banfeng, Feng Daiku, and Ma Wu cornered Hua Manchun, whose attempts to flee and use Joy Cultivation techniques failed against Li Banfeng and his shadow.
• Li Banfeng unexpectedly learned to fly with Riding the Wind and Driving the Clouds, then brought the wounded Hua Manchun to the Portable Abode.
• Hua Manchun admitted that he refined Entry Medicine Powder from the remains of cultivators buried in the mountains around Flower Immortal Manor.
• Hua Manchun claimed the women in his manor had legally sold themselves into service, and explained that he had contacted the Ferry Gang to deal with Li Banfeng.
• After Dream Virtue exposed Hua Manchun's evasion about the Ferry Gang's leader, Hua Manchun revealed that the people of Outer State were fabricated and began to explode.

Li Banfeng advanced after learning to use two Cloud Above Skills, then struggled to master Counting Family Treasures, the House Cultivator Pillar Skill. He finally connected with a vase in the Portable Abode, but it trapped his head inside, leaving his family trying to pull him free.

• Li Banfeng demonstrated Shadows Pitying Each Other and Riding the Wind and Driving the Clouds after retrieving his muddy shadow from a swamp.
• The phonograph gave Li Banfeng half a Profound Essence Pill and helped him endure the Cold Qi as he advanced, then explained that Counting Family Treasures was the House Cultivator Pillar Skill.
• Li Banfeng tried to connect with several belongings but received no response, until he focused on a vase that had long stood in the Portable Abode.
• Li Banfeng discovered dust inside the vase, cleaned it with a feather duster, and made the vase respond to him as a family treasure.
• The vase slipped over Li Banfeng's head, and his family tried to pull him out while he warned them not to break their new treasure.

Li Banfeng claimed Hua Manchun’s territory, found his hidden contract, and returned Feng Daiku’s lost land. Meanwhile, Fan Zhongfu tried to force Qiu Zhiheng to lure Li Qi to Medicine King Gully, but Sun Tiecheng appeared behind him and challenged his confidence in the Seamless Heavenly Garment.

• Li Banfeng struggled to communicate with the vase and found that it could barely fly outside the Portable Abode.
• Li Banfeng and Feng Daiku searched for Hua Manchun’s contract, then used A'Xi’s account of a lost fan feather to locate it beneath a mountain stream.
• Li Banfeng transferred Hua Manchun’s contract into his own name, returned Feng Daiku’s lost territory, and collected Flower Immortal Manor’s human aura.
• Sun Tiecheng argued with Red Lotus over the materials for a Profound Essence Pill and failed to persuade Gui Jianchou to gather Iron Tendon Bamboo on Bitter Mist Mountain.
• Fan Zhongfu restrained Qiu Zhiheng with the Seamless Heavenly Garment and threatened his family to make him summon Li Qi.
• Sun Tiecheng appeared behind Fan Zhongfu and asked whether he believed that the person trapped in the ball of yarn was Fan Zhongfu himself.

Sun Tiecheng forced Fan Zhongfu to lead him to Bitter Mist Mountain, where Xu Han stopped Fan’s escape and gave Sun two Iron Tendon Bamboo shoots. After Xu Han sent Fan to spy on Snowflake Port, Sun discovered one shoot was missing, and the old thief revealed that Iron Tendon Bamboo was the Peddler’s main ingredient for Entry Medicine Powder.

• Sun Tiecheng used the bloodied thread ball to torture Fan Zhongfu until Fan agreed to lead him to Iron Tendon Bamboo, while Qiu Zhiheng stayed behind.
• Fan Zhongfu tried to flee through a golden pool, but Xu Han burned away his wings and stopped him; Sun and Xu then argued over the bamboo and made Fan judge their dispute.
• Xu Han gave Sun two Iron Tendon Bamboo shoots in exchange for Fan, then questioned Fan about Snowflake Port and ordered him to send daily reports before letting him leave.
• Fan Zhongfu broke his promise and tried to escape Medicine King Gully, but Xu Han’s illusion brought him back to Bitter Mist Mountain, where Xu forced him to drink golden medicinal soup.
• Sun returned to Fool’s City with one bamboo shoot, and Gui Jianchou suggested Smiling Thousand Hands had stolen the other.
• The old thief showed He Jiaqing an Iron Tendon Bamboo shoot and explained that the Peddler used it as the main ingredient in Entry Medicine Powder.

Li Banfeng learned that Iron Tendon Bamboo could be turned into pills related to the Entry Medicine Powder that sustained Pro State’s sects, while Sun Tiecheng secretly gave him ten such pills. The chapter ended with Zhang Wanlong hiding the iron tendons in a bamboo grove, as Little Genzi watched and memorized how he did it.

• Smiling Thousand Hands explained to He Jiaqing that the Peddler controlled the survival of Pro State’s sects by controlling their medicine powder, then gave him an Iron Tendon Bamboo shoot to study.
• Xu Han told Qiu Zhiheng that an honest-looking man had used a technique to make him forget who wounded Fan Fucheng, and urged him to ask Li Qi whether they were enemies or allies.
• Li Banfeng learned from Xu Han and the phonograph that Iron Tendon Bamboo could be used to refine medicine, then warned Sun Tiecheng that Snowflake Port might target Tang Changfa and the others.
• Sun Tiecheng revealed that Red Lotus had refined ten patterned pills from Iron Tendon Bamboo, though he did not know how to turn them into Entry Medicine Powder, and secretly gave the pills to Li Banfeng.
• Zhang Wanlong and Little Genzi searched for bamboo shoots with ten iron tendons, then Zhang Wanlong used moss to conceal the iron tendons throughout the grove while Little Genzi watched.

Li Banfeng investigated Iron Tendon Bamboo and the abduction of Yu Yaoming, while Shen Jingye confronted pressure from his superiors and joined Li Banfeng in tracing the kidnapper. Their deductions pointed toward a powerful craftsman cultivator and a possible insider, and Shen Jingye began secretly investigating Du Wenming.

• Red Lotus explained that Iron Tendon Bamboo tendons could be refined into pills and that three pills could become Entry Medicine Powder, though she could not identify which pills matched each path.
• Li Banfeng questioned Shen Jingye about Iron Tendon Bamboo and learned that the Dark Matter Research Lab had taken Yu Yaoming and that Shen Jingye had handed over the relevant materials.
• Du Wenming summoned Shen Jingye to an emergency meeting after Yu Yaoming was abducted from the lab, and Shen Jingye refused to accept blame for the disappearance.
• Shen Jingye showed Li Banfeng surveillance footage of a marionette-like figure rescuing Yu Yaoming, and they concluded that a powerful craftsman cultivator was likely involved.
• Li Banfeng and Shen Jingye identified the Birch Hermit Association, the Ferry Gang, and Snowflake Port as possible organizations behind the abduction, then suspected an insider had revealed the lab's location.
• Shen Jingye realized the kidnapper must have had inside information and used a secure phone to ask someone to investigate Du Wenming's recent movements.

Li Banfeng investigated Du Wenming’s possible connection to Yu Yaoming’s abduction, using radio equipment and Heaven Heart Stones as clues. He lured Du toward Yu Yaoming’s laboratory, where Li’s covert preparations caught a puppet man searching for missing components.

• Shen Jingye told Li Banfeng that Du Wenming had taken leave when Yu Yaoming was abducted, and presented clues linking Du to radio equipment and possible Crafting Cultivation.
• Li Banfeng consulted Luo ZhengNan, learned that a radio antenna containing Heaven Heart Stone could receive signals across states, and suspected Du’s research involved similar materials.
• Li Banfeng questioned Fang Yufei in disguise and discovered that her memory of him had been erased; Du Wenming learned of the interrogation and agreed to transfer Yu Yaoming’s students to the Dark Star Bureau.
• Li Banfeng arranged to watch Yu Yaoming’s laboratory with Geng Congyi, secretly entered it, and took components and research data that the old man identified as Heaven Heart Stones smelted into equipment.
• Li Banfeng and the projector prepared surveillance for the laboratory, and a puppet man entered the next night to search for a missing component before agents rushed in to confront him.

Li Banfeng discovered that the supposed puppet was likely the Dance Cultivator Du Wenming, whose technique forced nearby people and even treasures to dance, but Du Wenming escaped before they could arrest him. As the investigation turned toward the Ferry Gang, Li Banfeng abducted Guan Zhengzhang for questioning, only for Shen Jingye to report that Guan had vanished from his villa.

• Geng Congyi used Coloring Agent to expose the puppet's surroundings, but Li Banfeng and the agents could not locate its controller.
• The puppet fought Li Banfeng and escaped into the woods after its Dance Cultivator technique made people and traffic dance; Li Banfeng wounded it with a blade carrying Coloring Agent.
• Li Banfeng and his companions identified the technique as Peaceful and Prosperous Song and Dance, and Li suspected the puppet-man was Du Wenming.
• Shen Jingye issued a wanted notice and told Li that Du Wenming had taken leave to visit his mother, while Li warned that the Coloring Agent would fade after three days.
• Shen Jingye gave Li files on the Ferry Gang, and Li crossed out Guan Zhengzhang's name after hearing that investigating him could bring trouble from his brother, Director Guan Zhengyang.
• Li Banfeng abducted Guan Zhengzhang to question him, but Shen Jingye called to report that Guan had vanished from his villa and wondered whether Du Wenming had silenced him.

Li Banfeng found Du Wenming’s hidden laboratory and discovered that its two intact Heaven Heart Stones had vanished, while Du Wenming struggled to get help and retrieve his hidden money. With Du Wenming poised to regain his official position and foreigners causing trouble at the Black Market, Li Banfeng considered walking into their trap.

• Li Banfeng, the phonograph, and Hong Ying interrogated Guan Zhengzhang, Zou Maoqing, and Cao Dayong, then used their answers to identify five distinct hideouts belonging to Du Wenming.
• Li Banfeng searched the hideouts, found eight million in cash at a fishpond, and discovered Du Wenming’s laboratory inside a Dark Dimension Space at a factory.
• Li Banfeng found Yu Yaoming’s former quarters and String Puppet Dance teaching materials, then opened the last room and saw two enormous spheres that the Portable Abode identified as intact Heaven Heart Stones.
• The Portable Abode absorbed the two Heaven Heart Stones, and Li Banfeng inferred that Du Wenming had failed to move his laboratory and lost his Birch Hermit Association Badge.
• Du Wenming sought help from a craftsman cultivator, who refused him, then took Yu Yaoming to the fishpond but found his hidden money gone.
• Tang Changfa warned Li Banfeng that foreigners had returned to cause trouble at the Black Market, and Li Banfeng considered cooperating with their trap.

Tang Changfa and the Black Market staff helped ambush Birch Hermit Association members, while Li Qi’s team captured Goncharova, who revealed Du Wenming’s connection to the group. Du Wenming escaped after learning Birch had betrayed him, and Yu Yaoming faced a mysterious bookseller in the basement.

• Lin Fojiao slept through warnings that the Birch Hermit Association was searching the Black Market for Li Qi, while Tang Changfa began a staged confrontation with Goncharova and Luchaliev.
• Tang Changfa, Yan Hong, and Yan Cuier fought Goncharova and Luchaliev; Li Banfeng’s shadow killed Luchaliev, and Goncharova fled the Culture Palace.
• Li Qi and Shen Jingye’s team captured Goncharova, who identified Du Wenming as the killer at the Culture Palace and revealed that he had worked with the Birch Hermit Association.
• Du Wenming found the entrance to his laboratory sealed, hid Yu Yaoming in a basement, and turned back after Star’s telegram warned that Birch had betrayed him.
• A thin bookseller entered the basement and told the frightened Yu Yaoming that books were the wellspring of wisdom.

Li Banfeng learned that the gramophone’s song might be tied to the legend of Yin Ling and Huang Yuxian, then helped Wife investigate wormholes and stole the Dark Matter Research Lab’s equipment for her research. The theft was discovered, and Shen Jingye faced pressure to blame Du Wenming while Li Banfeng settled Wife into a hidden laboratory.

• Shen Jingye discussed Du Wenming’s downfall and personnel promotions with Li Banfeng, then Chen Changrui recognized that the gramophone’s song was not sung by Jiang Mengting.
• Chen Changrui told Li Banfeng about Yin Ling, the vanished opera performer Huang Yuxian, and Cheng Xueying, whose family had died after obtaining Yin Ling’s record.
• Li Banfeng connected the record and gramophone to Cheng Xueying, but decided to trust Wife rather than press her about her past; Wife then told him Yu Yaoming’s wormhole research could enable boundary crossings.
• Li Banfeng took Wife to Yu Yaoming’s laboratory, removed its equipment and manuals, and moved them into a hidden Dark Dimension Space so Wife could study them.
• Shen Jingye rushed to the Dark Matter Research Lab after its equipment disappeared, where Guan Zhengyang accused Du Wenming and demanded that Shen accept responsibility for the theft.
• Li Banfeng arranged the stolen equipment in the hidden space, and Wife asked to return there often to conduct her research.

Boss Lu introduced Yu Yaoming to Pro State and recruited him to research a way through its boundaries, while Li Banfeng questioned Goncharova about the Birch Hermit Association’s plans to conquer Pro State. Du Wenming, now destitute and hunted, received orders from Master Kong Fang to return to Pro State and pursue the Mystic Life Crimson Lotus.

• Boss Lu took Yu Yaoming through the bookstore to Pro State, where Yu Yaoming witnessed its unusual society and a book-wielding woman rob a jewelry store.
• Li Banfeng learned from Goncharova that the Birch Hermit Association sought to control boundaries and conquer Pro State, and identified Du Wenming as Snowflake Port’s Third Boss.
• Goncharova told Li Banfeng that Snowflake Port funded the association’s research in exchange for secret technology, and that Du Wenming had sought Yu Yaoming’s research results.
• Boss Lu showed Yu Yaoming a deadly boundary and offered him a laboratory and equipment to develop a genuine way through it.
• Du Wenming, hiding and living off pond fish, received Copper Coins from Master Kong Fang, who ordered him to return to Pro State with Feng Chongli.
• Master Kong Fang told Du Wenming that Sun Tiecheng might possess the Mystic Life Crimson Lotus and Iron Tendon Bamboo, and declared that Snowflake Port would move against him.

Li Banfeng learned that the Peddler might have been killed by the Heavenly Person, prompting him to investigate Inner State’s preparations for war. Luo Yanjun hinted that Inner State planned to seize territory while the tiger was absent or incapacitated, and Li Banfeng began asking where the tiger’s Old Fox could be found.

• Li Banfeng brought Red Lotus food and discussed the Birch Hermit Association crackdown and his plans to prepare for Du Wenming’s desperation.
• Li Banfeng took the Gramophone to his laboratory and the Seven Autumn City Night Market, where an earthquake and a cry like Brother Qiu’s led him to Qiu Luoye.
• Chu Shaoqiang told Li Banfeng and Qiu Luoye that the Peddler had lost a life-and-death battle with the Heavenly Person and warned that Inner State might invade Pro State.
• Li Banfeng went with Feng Daiku to meet Luo Yanjun, who hinted that Inner State was acquiring land and that a tiger might be injured or dead.
• Luo Yanjun said she planned to search for the tiger’s Old Fox, and Li Banfeng asked where the fox could be found.

Li Banfeng investigated reports about the Peddler and found Du Wenming fighting Zhang Gunli, only for Master Kong Fang to intervene. When the Pellet Drum announced the Peddler’s arrival, Zhang Gunli fled and Kong Fang carried Du Wenming away without meeting the First Boss.

• Luo Yanjun hinted that Master Kong Fang was the Old Fox and that Inner State might soon act against Snowflake Port, so Li Banfeng told Feng Daiku to warn the families to stay calm.
• Li Banfeng learned from Liao Zihui that Pillow City cultivator Ye Haolong had witnessed the Peddler’s battle with the Heavenly Person, and that Du Wenming had been spotted near Decency Village.
• Li Banfeng found Du Wenming in the forest, where Zhang Gunli attacked him with abacuses and used Wei Sha Chou He to weaken his will.
• Master Kong Fang appeared, fought Zhang Gunli, and rescued Du Wenming, while Li Banfeng watched from a banyan tree.
• The Pellet Drum sounded, prompting Zhang Gunli to burn Du Wenming’s promissory note and flee; Kong Fang took Du Wenming away, leaving Li Banfeng in the tree with the drum.

Li Banfeng investigated rumors that the Peddler had died, while Inner State debated whether to attack the Devil Land. He disguised himself as the Peddler to calm Pro State, then went to Pillow City to question Ye Haolong, but found the city asleep under its strange rules.

• Li Banfeng learned that Zhang Gunli and Master Kong Fang had clashed, and Red Lotus asked him to warn the Peddler not to fight a Heavenly Person in exchange for making the phonograph a body.
• Luo Lijun concluded that the Peddler was alive and tried to cancel the campaign against the Devil Land, but Lord Fan, Lord Lu, and Lord Bi pressured her to spread rumors that he was dead and provoke him into appearing.
• At Carefree Dock, Li Qi told the gathered leaders that he had seen the Peddler alive, then warned them that Inner State was spreading rumors and urged them to stay vigilant.
• Li Banfeng disguised himself as the Peddler and sold goods in villages near Green Water City, reassuring the locals that the Peddler was alive before heading to Pillow City.
• In Pillow City, Li Banfeng found its residents asleep until spring and reached Ye Haolong's home, but Ye Haolong would not wake as Li Banfeng and Old Teapot began to succumb to the city's sleep.

Li Banfeng entered Ye Haolong’s dream with Dream Virtue and learned that Ye Haolong’s story about witnessing the Peddler’s battle with a Heavenly Person was a false memory he had made to console himself. Zhao Lanmeng sent Li Banfeng to Glue Lacquer River to find the Peddler’s lover and asked him to return afterward for a sparring match.

• Dream Virtue entered Ye Haolong’s dream but could not approach him, so she used a Dream Bridge to lead Li Banfeng inside.
• Li Banfeng confronted Ye Haolong about his claimed memories, and Zhao Lanmeng appeared and showed Li Banfeng scenes from Ye Haolong’s life.
• Zhao Lanmeng revealed that Ye Haolong had never won a battle and had invented a heroic memory of witnessing the Peddler fight a Heavenly Person to compensate for his failures.
• Zhao Lanmeng confirmed that the supposed decisive battle had not happened in Pillow City, then assessed Li Banfeng and his magical artifacts.
• Zhao Lanmeng gave Li Banfeng directions to find the Peddler’s lover at Glue Lacquer River and asked him to return afterward for a sparring match.

Li Banfeng reached Glue Lacquer River to find the Peddler and learned that the Peddler’s sweetheart, Lu Qianjiao, had trapped the wooden house behind a Clay Array. After Li Banfeng found a way through and told her why he had come, Lu Qianjiao flew into a rage at the rumor that a woman had dueled the Peddler.

• Li Banfeng stopped Ye Haolong from spreading a false report that the Peddler had died, and Zhao Lanmeng agreed to keep Ye Haolong restrained in Pillow City.
• Zhao Lanmeng revealed that the city was real but he was only its dream, leaving Li Banfeng to wonder whether Zhao Lanmeng’s skill had created the city’s rules.
• Li Banfeng traveled to Glue Lacquer River, where Lu Qianjiao warned him not to touch the gold lacquer and said the Peddler was waiting in her house.
• Lu Qianjiao used a Clay Array and her Arrow Cultivator skills to stop Li Banfeng from flying across the mud, while Hong Ying and the phonograph explained the dangers of the clay and silt.
• Li Banfeng used Counting Family Treasures to distract the clay with wine, entered the wooden house, and asked Lu Qianjiao where the Peddler was.
• Li Banfeng explained that he had come because rumors said the Peddler had lost a duel to a Heavenly Person and died, and Lu Qianjiao angrily cursed the woman who had fought him.

Li Banfeng investigated the Carriage Driver’s seizure of Yellow Earth Bridge and fought the Fire Wheel Gang’s coordinated Foreign Carriage Formation. After discovering that the carriage drivers were Inner State people bound to their rickshaws, he convinced Tang Shijiang to join the fight, and Tang declared they would leave none alive.

• Lu Qianjiao insisted that the Peddler was alive in Proper Land, accused Li Banfeng of betraying him, and fled before Li Banfeng could stop her.
• Luo ZhengNan reported that the Carriage Driver and his Fire Wheel Gang had injured Qin Bulou, taken Little Qin, and demanded Yellow Earth Bridge’s deed, so Li Banfeng went to help Ma Wu and Qin Bulou.
• Li Banfeng consulted Wife about the Foreign Carriage Formation, then fought the gang’s night raid and killed more than a dozen carriage drivers before their leader covered the retreat.
• Li Banfeng suspected the carriage drivers were Inner State people after seeing them patrol with their rickshaws, and he summoned Ma Wu, Chuanzi, and Genzi before heading to South Bridge.
• Li Banfeng stole a patrolling driver’s rickshaw, and Tang Shijiang recognized that the driver was an Inner State person whose power depended on the vehicle.
• Tang Shijiang ended his hesitation, took out Huang Zenan’s abacus, and declared that none of the carriage drivers would be left alive.

Li Banfeng and Tang Shijiang attacked the Carriage Drivers at Cement Platform Coal Yard, killing most of them and capturing their leader, but one escaped. While chasing the last Carriage Driver, Li Banfeng met the Peddler, who had returned with a familiar man.

• The Carriage Drivers prepared at Cement Platform Coal Yard, and Li Banfeng and Tang Shijiang launched their attack.
• Tang Shijiang fought the Carriage Driver leader while Li Banfeng disrupted the formation and killed dozens of Carriage Drivers.
• Li Banfeng defeated the leader with help from a man in black, then captured him and his carriage in the Portable Abode.
• Ma Wu noticed that one Carriage Driver was missing, so Li Banfeng followed the tracks toward East Bridge.
• Li Banfeng found the Peddler selling again and saw a round-faced man behind him, who greeted him as Li Bufeng.