Chapter Summaries

Lin Taichu negotiated with the Zixia Sect for a thousand sets of weapons to equip Luofeng City’s city guard and insisted on meeting the person with authority over the deal. Mr. Ma agreed to supply all the sets within a month, leaving Lin Taichu to wait for the order.

• Lin Taichu asked Wang Tieshan to sell him a thousand sets of dharma artifacts, explaining that Luofeng City needed weapons for its city guard.
• Wang Tieshan offered a price of 280 Spirit Stones per set, and Lin Taichu bargained it down to 250 Spirit Stones per set.
• Lin Taichu demanded to meet the Zixia Sect’s principal on Immortal Soldier Island, so Wang Tieshan went to ask permission.
• Wang Tieshan led Lin Taichu to meet Mr. Ma in a stone chamber behind the Forging Workshop.
• Lin Taichu told Mr. Ma he wanted the weapons for Luofeng City’s city guard, and Mr. Ma agreed to provide all one thousand sets within a month.

Lin Taichu inspected Zixia Sect’s weapons and agreed to buy one thousand sets from Mr. Ma, then questioned him about the attempted prison break in Luofeng City. Mr. Ma blamed Profound Heaven Sect and revealed that it wanted Liu Zicheng’s hidden network and fortune, leaving Lin Taichu determined to verify the account.

• Lin Taichu examined the Forging Workshop’s weapons and agreed with Mr. Ma to buy one thousand sets for two hundred and fifty thousand Spirit Stones.
• After signing the agreement, Lin Taichu asked Mr. Ma whether Zixia Sect had sent people to rescue Liu Zicheng from prison.
• Mr. Ma denied Zixia Sect’s involvement and said Profound Heaven Sect had sent three Half-Saint Seventh Layer experts under Elder Li, though only one reached Luofeng City before the failed attempt was abandoned.
• Mr. Ma explained that Profound Heaven Sect wanted Liu Zicheng’s hidden Northern Region network of people, money, and goods so it could reclaim the market.
• Lin Taichu said he would believe Mr. Ma for now but still needed to verify his claims.

Lin Taichu left Immortal Soldier Island to investigate the Profound Heaven Sect and went to the Qingyang Sect hoping Su Yao would help him. Elder Chen revealed that Su Yao had requested to leave her Luofeng City assignment herself, and Lin Taichu decided to find her in the south.

• Lin Taichu finished his business with Mr. Ma, who warned him that the Profound Heaven Sect might retaliate for his investigation.
• Lin Taichu flew away from Immortal Soldier Island and decided to investigate the Profound Heaven Sect's alleged role in freeing prisoners from Luofeng City.
• Lin Taichu chose to ask Su Yao for help and traveled to the Qingyang Sect, since Zhou Jin and Feng Tie could not leave Luofeng City.
• Elder Chen told Lin Taichu that Su Yao had left for the south that morning and might be away for weeks or months.
• Elder Chen revealed that Su Yao had asked to stop handling Luofeng City's affairs and had accepted a difficult assignment monitoring a spiritual mine.
• Lin Taichu asked where Su Yao had gone, and Elder Chen asked whether he intended to find her.

Lin Taichu traveled to Qingshi Town to ask Su Yao to help investigate the Profound Heaven Sect’s prison break and possible ties to the Tianyuan Chamber of Commerce. Su Yao asked whether he knew why she had quit handling Luofeng City’s affairs, and he stayed silent.

• Elder Chen told Lin Taichu that Su Yao had gone to oversee Qingyang Sect’s mine in Qingshi Town and gave him a temporary passage Jade Tablet.
• Lin Taichu told Elder Chen about the Profound Heaven Sect’s alleged prison break in Luofeng City, and Elder Chen warned him that the sect had powerful allies.
• Lin Taichu flew to Qingshi Town and asked Su Yao to help investigate the Profound Heaven Sect’s Forging Workshop on Immortal Soldier Island.
• Su Yao warned Lin Taichu that he would be discovered if he investigated alone, then asked whether he knew why she had quit managing Luofeng City’s affairs.

Su Yao explained why she had left Luofeng City and agreed to help Lin Taichu investigate the Profound Heaven Sect, while making clear that she would return only for work. They traveled to Qingfeng Mountain, where Su Yao told Elder Chen she wanted to resume handling Luofeng City's liaison affairs.

• Su Yao told Lin Taichu that she had left because her feelings for him had grown and she could not accept being treated only as a capable helper.
• Lin Taichu asked Su Yao to return to Luofeng City and accompany him to Immortal Soldier Island to investigate the Profound Heaven Sect.
• Su Yao agreed to help because the Profound Heaven Sect threatened Qingyang Sect's interests, but insisted their relationship would be strictly professional.
• Su Yao packed her things, and she and Lin Taichu flew to Qingfeng Mountain in the latter half of the night.
• Su Yao told Elder Chen she wanted to take over Luofeng City's liaison affairs again, explaining that her familiarity made her the best choice.

Su Yao returned to Luofeng City to resume managing its affairs, and Elder Chen assigned her to help Lin Taichu investigate the Profound Heaven Sect. Lin Taichu and Su Yao headed to Immortal Soldier Island to investigate the sect’s Forging Workshop, where Wang Tieshan reacted with surprise upon meeting Su Yao.

• Su Yao persuaded the Sect Leader to let her return to Luofeng City, while Elder Chen agreed to send her with Lin Taichu to investigate the Profound Heaven Sect.
• Elder Chen warned Lin Taichu and Su Yao not to act independently and gave Su Yao Spirit Stones and pills for the journey.
• Lin Taichu and Su Yao returned to Luofeng City, where Su Yao told Zhou Mingyuan to return to the sect and took over the city’s affairs.
• Lin Taichu insisted they leave immediately for Immortal Soldier Island so the Profound Heaven Sect would have less time to prepare.
• Lin Taichu and Su Yao visited the Zixia Sect’s Forging Workshop, where Wang Tieshan let them inside and asked who Su Yao was.

Lin Taichu and Su Yao questioned Zixia Sect’s Wang Tieshan, then asked Iron Sword Sect’s Ma Kui to quietly monitor the Profound Heaven Sect. Ma Kui feared retaliation, and Lin Taichu urged him to help protect the Qingyang Sect’s hold on the Northern Region market.

• Lin Taichu asked Wang Tieshan about unusual activity at the Forging Workshop and learned that Mr. Ma had left the island.
• After deciding they could get more help from the smaller Iron Sword Sect, Lin Taichu and Su Yao visited its Forging Workshop to meet Ma Kui.
• Su Yao asked Ma Kui whether he knew that the Profound Heaven Sect had sent people to rescue Liu Zicheng from the Luofeng City Dungeon.
• Su Yao asked Ma Kui to discreetly watch the Profound Heaven Sect, but he worried that the larger sect would retaliate against Iron Sword Sect.
• Lin Taichu argued that helping them would protect the Qingyang Sect’s Northern Region Dharma Artifact market from the Profound Heaven Sect.

Su Yao and Lin Taichu arranged for Ma Kui to spy on the Profound Heaven Sect by agreeing that Qingyang Sect would buy the Iron Sword Sect’s Dharma Artifacts. They returned to Luofeng City to wait for news while Lin Taichu learned that nothing had happened at the Dungeon and Feng Tie’s goods had been collected.

• Su Yao offered to buy all the Iron Sword Sect’s Dharma Artifacts in exchange for Ma Kui watching the Profound Heaven Sect, and Lin Taichu assured Ma Kui that the goods had a market.
• Ma Kui agreed to report the Profound Heaven Sect’s movements, and Su Yao set a monthly purchase of three hundred Dharma Artifacts at one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones each.
• Lin Taichu suggested bundling the Iron Sword Sect’s goods with Feng Tie’s popular Dharma Artifacts, and Su Yao agreed to tell Elder Chen.
• Lin Taichu and Su Yao left Immortal Soldier Island and flew back to Luofeng City, planning to wait for Ma Kui’s reports.
• Zhao Feng told Lin Taichu that nothing had happened at the Dungeon and that people from Qingyang Sect had collected two batches of Feng Tie’s goods.

Lin Taichu and Su Yao investigated Profound Heaven Sect’s efforts to free Liu Zicheng and reconnect with the Tianyuan Chamber of Commerce’s remnants. After Ma Kui reported that three powerful visitors had spent the night at the sect’s Forging Workshop, Lin Taichu warned him to stay cautious and keep watching.

• Zhou Jin told Lin Taichu that Liu Zicheng had refused to talk but reacted when asked about Profound Heaven Sect, suggesting it had arranged the prison break.
• Su Yao reported that Elder Chen had approved buying Iron Sword Sect’s Dharma Artifacts wholesale on the condition that they be sold through a separate low-end channel.
• Su Yao told Lin Taichu that Ma Kui had seen a Northern Region-sounding visitor meet Steward Liu at Profound Heaven Sect’s Forging Workshop before heading north.
• Lin Taichu and Su Yao concluded that Profound Heaven Sect was contacting Tianyuan Chamber of Commerce remnants before attempting another move to rescue Liu Zicheng.
• Su Yao reported that three visitors with cultivation above the seventh level of Half-Saint had stayed overnight at the Forging Workshop, and Lin Taichu told her to warn Ma Kui to avoid discovery.

Lin Taichu and Su Yao realized the Profound Heaven Sect planned to take over Liu Zicheng’s former Dharma Artifact supply network, and they planned to stop its agents from reaching Immortal Soldier Island. They prepared to monitor the island’s entrances and workshops, recruiting the neutral blacksmith Sun Tietou to help.

• Lin Taichu and Su Yao concluded that the Profound Heaven Sect’s three agents were seeking to take over Liu Zicheng’s business routes rather than attempting another prison break.
• Lin Taichu explained that the Profound Heaven Sect could use the Forging Workshops Liu Zicheng had contracted with to challenge Qingyang Sect’s Dharma Artifact sales in the Northern Region.
• Lin Taichu and Su Yao decided to stop the agents from entering Immortal Soldier Island by watching its landing entrance and the workshops they might visit.
• Su Yao recommended Sun Tietou, a neutral blacksmith with a small workshop on Immortal Soldier Island, as a reliable person to hire for surveillance.

Lin Taichu watched Immortal Soldier Island’s western landing entrance for the three Profound Heaven Sect cultivators and followed them to see which Forging Workshops they visited. He returned to the reef and told Su Yao that the three had gone to separate workshops.

• Lin Taichu and Su Yao flew to Immortal Soldier Island, then split up so Su Yao could find Sun Tietou while Lin Taichu watched the western landing entrance.
• Lin Taichu observed several visitors before three seventh-level Half-Saint cultivators arrived separately and entered the island.
• Lin Taichu followed the three along the main road and saw them split up in different directions.
• Lin Taichu followed the man in the short cyan jacket to Liu Family Shop and memorized its location after the man spoke with a middle-aged man.
• Lin Taichu returned to the reef and told Su Yao that the three cultivators had visited three separate Forging Workshops.

Lin Taichu and Su Yao learned that Profound Heaven Sect had secured production from three forging workshops and planned to delay its first shipment to the Northern Region. The next morning, Su Yao stopped the first shipment at Immortal Soldier Island, claiming it needed a quality inspection.

• Su Yao identified Liu Family Shop, Zhao Family Iron Shop, and Sun Family Shop as the workshops Profound Heaven Sect had approached, and Lin Taichu proposed intercepting their shipments.
• Lin Taichu told Zhou Jin to watch for goods from the three workshops while leaving Uncle Feng’s shipment alone; Zhou Jin assured him that Liu Zicheng would remain imprisoned.
• Su Yao checked the island’s shipping records and found that all three workshops would ship goods to Northern Region Trading Firm the next day.
• Lin Taichu and Su Yao went to Immortal Soldier Island’s western entrance before dawn and waited for the shipments.
• Su Yao stopped Liu Family Shop’s shipment of two hundred Dharma Artifacts, inspected one, and declared that the goods had a quality problem and needed to be detained.

Lin Taichu and Su Yao stopped three batches of Profound Heaven Sect's goods from leaving Immortal Soldier Island and paid Island Master Zheng to keep the island's shipping restrictions in place. After learning that Profound Heaven Sect's people had used force and were hiding in an abandoned mine, Lin Taichu headed back to the island with Su Yao.

• Su Yao and Lin Taichu stopped goods from the Liu Family Shop, Zhao Family Iron Shop, and Sun Family Shop from leaving Immortal Soldier Island.
• Lin Taichu paid Island Master Zheng to refuse requests to let the goods through, and Zheng agreed.
• Lin Taichu considered how Profound Heaven Sect might respond and learned that Baishui Town could ship goods out by land.
• An attendant reported that Profound Heaven Sect's people had knocked over two guards while demanding their goods, then hidden in the Abandoned Mine Pit after Island Master Zheng declared the island under martial law.
• Lin Taichu took his Iron Sword and flew with Su Yao to Immortal Soldier Island.

After three Profound Heaven Sect members escaped into Immortal Soldier Island’s abandoned mines, Lin Taichu enlisted the Zixia Sect to watch the area and arranged to buy out the island’s forging capacity to lure the fugitives into action. The plan was set in motion, with ninety-seven workshops agreeing to sell Luofeng City a total of forty-two thousand pieces next month.

• Lin Taichu learned that three high-cultivation Profound Heaven Sect members had vanished into the Abandoned Mine Pit and asked Island Master Zheng about the island’s exits.
• Lin Taichu and Su Yao asked Wang Tieshan to have Zixia Sect disciples patrol near the mines and report anyone approaching.
• Su Yao warned that the Profound Heaven Sect might pressure the island’s workshops, and Wang Tieshan agreed to help discreetly.
• Lin Taichu instructed Wang Tieshan to tell every workshop that Luofeng City would buy all their production capacity next month at twenty percent above market price.
• Lin Taichu explained to Su Yao that buying out the capacity would force the fugitives to act if they wanted goods.
• Wang Tieshan returned with reports from ninety-seven workshops, totaling forty-two thousand pieces of next month’s production capacity.

Lin Taichu investigated suspicious activity at the Abandoned Mine Pit and discovered that Profound Heaven Sect men were escaping from Immortal Soldier Island by sea. He confronted three of them at the west reef beach and demanded the documents for their contacts, but they attacked him.

• Wang Tieshan told Lin Taichu that unfamiliar spiritual-power users had gone toward the Abandoned Mine Pit, so Lin Taichu and Su Yao went to investigate.
• Lin Taichu and Su Yao found fresh footprints and warm ashes in a hidden mining chamber, and Lin Taichu concluded the intruders planned to escape by water.
• Lin Taichu sent Su Yao to alert Island Master Zheng and went alone to watch the west reef beach.
• Lin Taichu saw three men prepare a boat and confronted them, explaining that Luofeng City's purchase of a month's production would undermine their Profound Heaven Sect's ties with the Forging Workshops.
• Lin Taichu demanded the documents for the contacts they had made through Liu Zicheng, but the three men surrounded him and attacked.

After Lin Taichu was wounded while defending the goods on Immortal Soldier Island, he suspected the attackers were former Tianyuan Chamber of Commerce members working with the Profound Heaven Sect. He decided to meet the Sect Master and ask the sect to stay out of the dispute.

• Lin Taichu fought off three seventh-level Half-Saints on the beach until Su Yao arrived with help, forcing the attackers to flee by boat.
• Su Yao told Lin Taichu that the goods and the Forging Workshops' production capacity remained on the island, but he warned that the attackers could return with more people.
• Lin Taichu spent three days recovering at the Zhao Family Mansion, while the Profound Heaven Sect made no move and the goods stayed detained at the Island Landing Port.
• Lin Taichu told Zhou Jin that the attackers might be former Tianyuan Chamber of Commerce members seeking to free Liu Zicheng in exchange for the Profound Heaven Sect taking over the workshops.
• Lin Taichu decided to visit the Profound Heaven Sect's Sect Master and ask the sect not to interfere further.

Lin Taichu visited the Profound Heaven Sect and spoke with Sect Master Fang Zhixing about the three Rogue Cultivators who had used the sect’s name to secure Immortal Soldier Island’s production capacity. He returned to Luofeng City knowing that Fang had suspected someone else was backing them, but the hidden force remained unknown.

• Lin Taichu told Zhou Jin he was going to the Profound Heaven Sect and asked him to tell Su Yao to seek Elder Chen if he was not back by dark.
• Lin Taichu met Fang Zhixing, who explained that the three Rogue Cultivators had approached Steward Liu to contract the Forging Workshops’ production capacity under the Profound Heaven Sect’s name.
• Lin Taichu told Fang Zhixing he would not blame the Profound Heaven Sect for the three men’s actions, and Fang explained that he had let them negotiate to discover who was behind them.
• Fang Zhixing said the three men had not returned or contacted Steward Liu since fleeing Immortal Soldier Island, and he agreed to notify Lin Taichu if they came back.
• Lin Taichu left for Luofeng City, reflecting that the force behind the three Rogue Cultivators had still not revealed itself.

Lin Taichu decided to let the three former Tianyuan Chamber of Commerce members leave on their own while Luofeng City kept their goods blocked. He then explored expanding Luofeng City's trade by selling Qingyang Sect's medicinal herbs, including two rare varieties.

• Lin Taichu told Su Yao that the Profound Heaven Sect would not protect the three, and he planned to stop their access to goods rather than hunt them down.
• Lin Taichu reasoned that pressure on Immortal Soldier Island would eventually force the three to leave, while Luofeng City focused on stabilizing its trade.
• Lin Taichu asked Su Yao to find out whether Qingyang Sect would sell medicinal herbs through Luofeng City, and Su Yao agreed to consult Elder Chen.
• Su Yao returned with Elder Chen's questions about the proposed sales and a report on the medicinal field's crops and yields.
• Lin Taichu learned that Qingyang Sect produced about fifty jin of Earth Marrow Root and under thirty jin of Silver Thread Leaf annually, but Elder Chen considered both rare herbs sect treasures.

Lin Taichu arranged for Qingyang Sect to sell its medicinal herbs through Luofeng City, and Su Yao began moving the first batches. As the city’s trade continued to stabilize, Lin Taichu encountered a smiling old man at the Zhao Family Mansion’s gate.

• Lin Taichu proposed buying Qingyang Sect’s Earth Marrow Root and Silver Thread Leaf at triple the market price, and Su Yao got Elder Chen to agree to a one-year trial.
• Lin Taichu inspected Qingyang Sect’s medicinal fields, collected the herbs with Su Yao, and suggested expanding the fields.
• Su Yao brought the herbs to Luofeng City, where she began selling Qi-Replenishing Grass and Blood-Coagulating Flower while holding back the rarer herbs.
• Lin Taichu reviewed the city’s stable affairs, recovered from his wound, and learned that apothecaries had already bought much of the first batch.
• Lin Taichu returned to the Zhao Family Mansion and found an old man in a dusty robe waiting at the gate.

Mr. Ma returned to Luofeng City with news that goods were being shipped from a new route at Black Stone Ferry, bypassing Immortal Soldier Island. Lin Taichu hired him to monitor the Southern Region, and they began investigating who was supplying the goods.

• Mr. Ma told Lin Taichu that Luofeng City’s Dharma Artifacts and other goods were selling across the Northern Region, while former Tianyuan Chamber of Commerce stalls were receiving Southern Region goods shipped from Black Stone Ferry.
• Mr. Ma concluded that someone had opened a new supply route through Black Stone Ferry and proposed finding its suppliers so Lin Taichu could block it.
• Lin Taichu offered Mr. Ma a paid position monitoring developments in the Southern Region, and Mr. Ma accepted.
• Lin Taichu told Su Yao about Black Stone Ferry and said he planned to investigate with Mr. Ma, while Su Yao agreed to watch Luofeng City.
• Lin Taichu and Mr. Ma investigated the route, but Mr. Ma explained that he had only passed through the small fishing village and did not know who was operating the workshop there.